Froggy wrote:Letang is flashy and he does the showy stuff really well. It's just that sometimes I think he doesn't have a grasp on the basics.

I have the same thoughts.

That pass in Philly: Letang at his glorious best. The kind of thing that only a rare few players can do.

The mistake turnover on clearing a puck on the PK last nite that led to the (2nd I think) goal: the kind of thing Kris Letang does FAR too often. Plays where he has an opportunity to do BETTER and he flubs it, are a big big problem.

This is why I find it odd that people still talk about him as a Norris candidate. He is not. Even. Close.

While he has fantastic skills, he has too many of those "d'oh" moments where he fails to make basic, solid, shutdown plays. The kinds of plays that players like Lidstrom made nearly all the time. I think Letang has it in him. He is by far the most talented Pens individual D. But for every "Did he just singlehandedly muscle that guy off the puck, spin away, and skate thru 3 guys to clear the zone???" magic play, he has as many "What happened there? He missed a basic pass/clearance/check/pinch/shot" moments. That's why he's been more of a millstone around the neck of the PP than his skillset says he should be.

Until Kris has those mistake moments be a rare exception happening every few games or so... instead of happening every few shifts..... he doesn't deserve to be mentioned in Norris talk.

Idoit40fans wrote:If you're blaming a team for lack of discipline, you ahve to be blaming the coach. Many of these guys were on the cup winning team, so they are capable of playing disciplined hockey. If it isn't them, its the coach. Even if it is them, its probably on the coach. It doesn't matter what someone thinks "should" be the case, it happens all the way across pro hockey, the coach IS necessary to keep players playing the right way.

I don’t know what the answer is, but I’m pretty certain Bylsma is doing his level best to turn this problem around. Whatever he’s doing, it doesn’t seem to be working, and that’s what concerns me and puzzles me. These guys do know how to play disciplined hockey, so why aren’t they? A coach can only do so much. At some point, players have to take responsibility for their failure to act responsibly.